Griot-Style Methodology: Longitudinal Study of Navigating Design With Unwritten Stories

We describe a seven-year longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with an indigenous community in Kenya. We detail the process of conducting research with an oral community: the deliberate practice of understanding and collecting stories; working with inter-generational community to envision and design technologies that support their ways of storytelling and story preservation; and to influence the design of other technologies. We chronicle how we contended with translating oral stories with rich metaphors to new mediums, and the dimensions of trust we have established and continue to reinforce. We offer our griot -style methodology, informed by working with the community and retrofitting existing HCI approaches: as an example model of what has worked, and the dimensions of challenges at each stage of the research work. The griot -style methodology has prompted a reflection on how we approach research, and present opportunities for other HCI research and practice of handling community stories.

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